Hibakusha protest against US subcritical nuclear test

The U.S. in December 2017 conducted a subcritical nuclear test in Nevada. This was revealed in a U.S. government report. The revelation provoked anger among Japanese people, especially Hibakusha.

The Hiroshima Council against A and H Bombs (Hiroshima Gensuikyo) and the Hiroshima Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo) on October 13 held a rally near the A-bomb Dome in Hiroshima City to protest against the U.S. nuclear experiment. Sakuma Kunihiko, who heads Hiroshima Hidankyo, said that the U.S. test runs counter to Hibakusha’s call for and the international move to create a world without nuclear weapons.

The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on October 12 sent written protests to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. Hidankyo’s statement points out that the subcritical nuclear test is totally unacceptable as it contradicts international efforts working to create a nuclear-weapons free world. Gensuikyo in its document criticized the latest U.S. subcritical test for leading the way to further nuclear proliferation and yet another nuclear arms race.

Hiroshima Gensuikyo on October 11 sent to President Trump a letter stating that the U.S. hypocritically continues with its policy of new nuclear weapons development while urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear deterrence capability. Hiroshima City Mayor Matsui Kazumi in his written protest said that the subcritical nuclear test is intolerable and that the Trump administration should act in line with Hiroshima’s earnest call for peace.

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on October 11 at a press conference expressed his protest against the U.S. nuclear experiment. He said that the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty does not prohibit the U.S. and the four other major nuclear weapons states from having nuclear weapons, but it requires them to work to reduce and eventually eliminate their nuclear arsenals. He stressed that the U.S. disregards this obligation imposed by the NPT which the U.S. itself signed and ratified.

Shii also noted that as shown in the fact that the UN adopted the nuclear weapons ban treaty in 2017, the world trend is support for the call to eliminate nuclear weapons. He stressed that the latest U.S. subcritical nuclear test runs counter to the global call for the elimination of nuclear weapons.